Once Upon A Time
by Chou Hime
Summary: Once Upon a Time in ancient Rome, Thalea, a Vestal Virgin is about to get a twist added to her teen years! A pinch of torture, a dash of love! NO CLICHE HAPPY ENDING FOLKS! VERY LOOSLY based off of the original Cinderella 8Chinese8 Please! Read and revie


Once Upon A Time… 

There was a girl of 16, who lived in the wondrous Empire of Rome. She was as appealing as the extraordinary city she lived in, with long ebony tresses as dark as charcoal and chestnut eyes that sparkled like the moons reflection on water and flawlessly olive hued skin.

Her name was Thalea, and like most Vestal priestesses – the only priestesses in O glorious Rome – Thalea was faithful to her goddess (Vesta, goddess of the Hearth). However more so than others, for when she was at the tender age of 6, everyone in her home was killed in a horrific fire. Everyone except herself, that is. How did such a young child escape from such a destructive event when here parents, with many years off wisdom, did not?

Simple.

Thalea saw, through all of the smoke and smoldering bits off her home, a striking woman with a melodic voice. She followed that such voice and visualization to a safe area where she slept the rest of the night. She woke up just as the sun had and become conscious of her most unusual surroundings. No longer in her house was she, but in the vile slum of the Rome! As rude carters and dirty old men with at-the-brink-of-death dusty pack mules passed and gave her no time of day, she burst with nearly instant tears. No one paid heed to the poor little girl bawling her eyes out in the street, except for one kindly middle-aged man. He brought Thalea to his home where he, his wife and daughter Brea lived.

As time went on, Brea and Thalea became as close as two crossed fingers, they did everything together. They even became Vestal Virgins or priestesses to the goddess Vesta.

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It was such a lovely summers day. The birds were singing, flowers blossoming, and tantalizing beams of sun let them selves into the inner vicinity of the sanctuary and caressed the marble furnishings. And…what is this? A dark figure went from shadow to shadow closer and closer to her destination.

Like a hungry lioness stalking a mouth-watering gazelle, Thalea crept up to Brea who still didn't notice her as she stoked the Eternal Flame.

"HAA!" Thalea boldly as well as noisily exclaimed, like a warrior on a horse trying to get it into a full gallop. Brea screeched in freight! Thalea howled with laughter.

"THALEA!" Brea growled as she swiftly turned around to face her long time friend. "That _wasn't _funny Thalea!"

Thalea doubled over with mirth, finally calming down enough to speak.

"Yes _haha_ it was!" she said, stopped laughing at once and sprinted off as Brea pursued her. Both girls giggled with mirth, as they would have when they were merely ten years old!

As she ran to the exit of the rather small temple, Thalea glanced over her shoulder to see how far away Brea was which wasn't incredibly distant at all so she sped up her previously prompt pace.

Having eyes only on the front of her head, she ran into and consequently tripped upon the fairy sharp tip of the stoker Brea had used for the fire prior. Brea's eyes widened considerable and she promptly halted in her chasing.

"Thalea, are you alright?" She inquired, concerned. "I'm fine…my sandals aren't though." she said, a little sad that her sandals were ripped up…now she had to get new ones. She groaned at the thought, the market was always so crowded with countless busy people. Yet, she couldn't walk around the temple with bare feet or worse, her leather shoes only used for the dirty outdoors. Well…it couldn't be so bad.

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The very next day, she went to find some nice new and hopefully not too expensive sandals.

Squinting her chestnut eyes, Thalea treaded in to the thick of the market place. This was where everyone sold his or her goods from sweet dried fruits to polished jewelry. She clutched her thin white cotton veil closer around her as the fragrant air rushed at her.

Ah ha! At last! Someone who sold what she needed! Thalea quickly shuffled to the front of the lean-to 'store'. There were shimmering gold sandals, lavender purple sandals, ocean blue sandals with shells, vibrant red sandals with pearls and so on. She discovered out of a little pile of sandals, charming pair of red sandals with a few colorful beads attached to them. Smiling, she gazed up to find the seller…and found no one there! Her eyebrows knit together in confusion…how could the seller of such fine things not be present? She could have easily stolen them! Of course it wasn't in her nature to do so, fortunately for the irresponsible seller.

Sighing she placed the appealing sandals down. She would return tomorrow, she could barrow a pair of Brea's sandals, she had several, she wouldn't mind. Turning around to go to the temple, she bumped into someone…someone about as tough as a rock and stiff as a board of wood!

"Oh, excuse me." She rushed.

"No it's fine…were you going to buy some sandals?" the lofty figure of a man asked, the sun was glaring in her eyes so she was incapable of seeing his facial features or anything.

"Yes, you're the seller of these sandals?"

"Yes." he said nicely, scuffling back to his post behind the lean-to shop.

Thalea rediscovered the sandals she was interested in before, and showed them to the seller, as to say 'these ones'.

"Two silver coins, please."

Thalea handed him the coins, in doing so their fingers lightly touched making her blush but only a little!

When Thalea looked up at him this time, she could saw…well to be blunt, she saw a rather striking man! Perhaps not a man, but a boy her age or one year older.

He had short deep brown hair and eyes, a swell defined chin, a straight medium sized nose and lips all on a kind of oval-like head.

"Thank you…you know, I could have stolen these since you weren't here. You might want to be more responsible with your shop next time." She said with a slight smile of amusement as she saw him scowl.

He mumbled something like, "I was coming back." Yet she still heard and gave a trivial laugh, he gave a cheesy grin.

"You're cute." He said, almost shyly.

Thalea could not believe her ears! How dare he! Trying to make her blush more then she already was! Especially when she was a caretaker of the Eternal Flame and they had just met! She was so annoyed with him, should felt like storming off! And that's precisely what she did until…

"Wait!" he was already past his 'post' and had gotten a hold of her left arm!

_How dare he!_

She tugged at her arm, but he had a iron grip on it.

"Let go!" Thalea cried, trying to wriggle out of his grip. Finally he let go.

"I didn't mean to offend you." He attempted to reason, but she would have none of it.

"Well you did!" She once again started off, yet he held her back again.

"I don't even know your name." Swiftly Thalea turned to him, rolled her eyes and this time, ripped her arm away from him with a fierce tug.

"_Why _would you need to! I just met you and I'm a priestess to the Great goddess Vesta!" she shouted.

He was silent, yet stared at her with his beautiful brown eyes.

"My name is Thalea." She spoke roughly, and then with a rigid smile asked, "What is yours?"

"Casius." He said with pride, puffing his chest out the slightest bit.

"Do you…want to meet again?"

Thalea gave him a stern look, "_Only _as **friends**."

Casius gave a handsome lopsided smirk as if to say 'Ha ha I win!' and Thalea couldn't help but smile.

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Thalea and Casius became great friends. They met almost every day, just to talk since there were so many things to talk about! Then it did a 180 with just one, simple…

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…Kiss.

Casius had offered to walk to the temple with Thalea, when in the middle of her talking, he grabbed both of her upper arms and kissed her! Kissed her, smack on the lips! As they parted, Thalea slowly opened her eyes and gasped.

"W-why did you do that!" she asked in a quiet, shaky voice.

He looked almost insecure as he replied, "I thought you liked it!"

"What? Why would you do that you kno-" She started but was cut off by him connecting his lips to her own soft ones.

Thalea jerked away from him, freeing her arms and slapped him! Slapped him so hard it turned his head to the side!

"Don't do that!"

"Why not?" He asked stupidly.

Tears sprung from her eyes not from sadness, but from anger. As the tears blinded her in a watery haze she formed her hands into fists and punched him over and over again.

"Why did you do that?" she cried.

Casius stared at her with his soul piercing eyes into her own. "I love you, Thalea."

That made her cry even harder and laugh her melodic laugh that he loved.

Looking straight at him with saltwater streaks on her cheeks, fresh tears running down them making new ones, she barely audibly whispered, "We just met, you can't love me."

"Do you love me Thalea?" He whispered back, and she gave him the tiniest of nods.

"We can't, you know that." Being a Vestal Virgin was wonderful especially when Thalea owed the magnificent goddess her life. It also meant that she could not marry and was sworn to celibacy. If she did either, she would be thrown into the Tiber River, or worse, buried alive with no funeral so her soul could not get to the underworld.

"You wouldn't be getting married or breaking the promise of celibacy." He told her, resting his chin on her head in a loving way, and just held her.

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Thalea happily strolled into the temple, yet yielded immediately when her eyes met with the other four priestesses. They were practically mortal enemies.

They, Julia, Prima, Claudia and Augustina had all **hated** Thalea with a passion since they were all young. They were jealous. For, Thalea had cut off all of her ebony tresses, a sign of youth and beauty, and gave them to their goddess Vesta. Thalea was most popular after that, showing her faith to the goddess by giving something as valuable her hair. It was something they would never do…the main reason they were Vestal Virgins was that they got some of male privileges as well as attention. They _fed_ off attention.

Thalea tried not to take such merry steps as she got nearer and nearer to the gang of girls.

They all turned to her, smirking with devilish eyes that could only do wrong.

"Guess what _dear _Thalea," Julia started.

"After all of those years we, at last, know what your punishment should be."

Pines of pure fear raced all over her body, and started to step back to the temple doors.

"We're sorry you had to wait so long." At that very moment, they all ran to and held onto her, except Julia.

Prima and Claudia held her arms, one behind her back, the other straight out for Augustina to clamp down on at her left wrist.

Julia had the most wretched expression on her face, as she pulled out a silver platted dagger, which was red hot on the blade area from heating in the Eternal Flame.

"You know this is all your fault, dear Thalea, don't you?" she inquired, grabbing Thalea's ring finger in a vice like grip.

A wave of air flooded Thalea's lungs as her eyes birthed salty tears.

"Julia, why are you doing this!" She sobbed, "Let go!" she screamed with fury, "Don't do it! Please, please don't!" She sobbed once again. Julia took pride in each and every tear that graced Thalea's every lovely olive toned cheeks.

"Hurry up!" Claudia snapped. Julia responded by sawing at Thalea's ring finger.

"_Surely _if you can give something as valuable as your hair, you can give up something as useless as a finger!"

"No! Stop it please!" Thalea cried, but Julia paid no heed and continued sawing, now past the skin and at the bone.

As the bone just under the second joint from the tip of her finger gave a hearty "**_SNAP"_** Thalea cried out again.

Throwing the bone into the fire, Julia gazed back at Thalea with glazed gray eyes.

" I don't think that's enough…what do you think girls?" She grinned like a Cheshire cat, not waiting for a reply. She took the only slightly cooled dagger and made little engravings with it on each of Thalea's cheeks while she held the girls' head back with her other hand. Giggling with mirth as Thalea made muffled screaming noises.

Julia snickered as she finish cutting Thalea's cheeks, and placed her hand under Thalea's chin to get a better look at her 'masterpiece'. Then backed off, the others following in suit.

Poor, sniveling Thalea feel to the cool floor and glanced at the place her finger had once been. Now it was nothing but a bloody knob and her cheeks stung like not a dagger, but bloodthirsty bees, had cut into her skin.

Augustina spoke up, "We know about that boy dear Thalea."

The said girls heart stopped when the following words reached her perfect ears.

"Don't go near him again. Or I will have him killed." She said, and then smiled with glee.

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The very next day, Casius went to the temple, though he knew it wasn't a public one, Thalea would be there. He hadn't seen her all morning, a very unlikely thing to happen.

With a hurried couple of knocks on the gigantic door, it opened and with exactly who he wanted to see.

Meekly, Thalea poked her scared face out of the temple. Suddenly, Casius' beaming face became a concerned.

Reaching a hand up to caress her cheek, she jerked back as if his has was on fire.

"Thalea," he asked, worried and a bit disturbed.

"We can't see each other anymore, Casius." She spoke, just as you would imagine a dead person would, if she could.

His chocolate brown eyebrows knitted together, "Why not?" he dared in a whisper.

Instead of a verbal reply, a lone tear ran down the side of her cheek and wounds. Then gave him a longing look.

"I'm so sorry."

At that, she shut the massivedoor. The physical oneas well as the one to Casius' heart, and her own.

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And They Both, Unfortunately, Didn't Live Happily Ever After.

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Celibacy- To like, be a virgin, to stay a virgin. Aka, No sex!

AN! Whew! I hope I didn't end that too fast! Please, let me know what you think! Should I do more? Could I fix this? Should I ...? Just let me know ! Oh yeah! And if you didn't already know, Vestal Virgins were (I think still are, somehow) real.

Questons? Comments? I'm beggin' on my knees, a pathetic sight, Let a poor writer know! ;-;

Thank you for reading!Kisses! o.-


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